We are all familiar with the wisdom that pursuing happiness is the surest way for it to flee. Happiness is not something to pursue. It does not come from outside of us; it comes from within. I subscribe to the theory that this is not only true of happiness. It is true with love, play, success, money and business. The harder we pursue them, the more they tend to flee.
This does not mean that we cannot set goals, plan, court or follow our dreams. It does not mean that we should play “hard to get” with success, money or love. “Not pursuing” does not mean our highly desired ends are up to fate…any more than our happiness is up to fate.
Like happiness, love, success, and money are not outside of us. And this distinction is where we often get messed up. For example,
- We are our best source of happiness, not circumstances.
- Love for our own self is our responsibility, not primarily another’s.
- We cannot allow others to define our level of success; that is only ours to determine.
- Money and business, while being part of an exchange of value, must at least begin with our own sense of value that we offer to others.
How often we pursue these things without realizing that we are the keepers of the keys!
I love how Romantic Comedies illustrate our pursuits of love. By being along for the chase given by the storyline, we see the character’s silliness, foibles and ridiculous misunderstandings created by limited information or the character’s limited perceptions. We can laugh at the coincidences and accidents instead of being frustrated by the obstacles and traps.
What business pursuits of yours could be considered humorous if seen from a reader’s, viewer’s or prospect’s perspective? Is trying too hard giving you a vision of watching your prospects escape? Is your marketing so aggressive that the business appears to be trying to be everything to all prospects? Does your estimation of prospects show that you value them more than they value themselves (spending more on them than their purchases warrant)? Do your referrers or does your advertising bring you unqualified clients? There is a multitude of ways to over-pursue.
Romantic Comedy Marketing will explore in our next issues the antidotes to the over-pursuit of business. As an incentive to read the next issues, I offer this: the answers are easier than what you might have been taught in your business courses and they are a lot more rewarding than what you were asking for. As a hint, I offer this: you will hear a voice of confidence, a joyfulness of being and ways to cultivate those qualities that attract business.
Copyright 2009 Rich Guy Miller
